Recent years have seen integrated oil companies and utilities investing heavily in a range of clean technologies, including renewable power, EV charging, power storage, biofuels, and CCUS. The new energy transition brings new opportunities, but also challenges to existing business models and pressure to increase company sustainability. What will be the impact of these investments on company strategy, technology development, and the move to a low-carbon, global energy system?
Solar and wind power costs globally have dropped rapidly during the past decade. Renewable project tender prices and feed-in tariffs are also dropping across the world. Many believe aggressive cost declines are still possible and will likely allow renewables to reach parity with conventional power very soon. How will technological development, scale of manufacturing, and local development experience build-up continue to affect costs for wind and solar? When should we expect renewable costs to become competitive with thermal generation costs? Will storage cost fall fast enough to allow system-wide costs of firm renewable power also reach parity with conventional power?